


A Teardrop from the Sun

by Wavyscribe



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: AU - College, Alternate Universe, Comedy, F/M, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-22
Updated: 2017-03-22
Packaged: 2018-08-11 13:09:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7893874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wavyscribe/pseuds/Wavyscribe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nico di Angelo loses to the whims of the capricious love god Cupid once again, will he be able to get back up off the ground? Will he accept the trade of everything he has for another chance at saving his one true love?</p><p>A.k.a:</p><p>The fic born out of madness and insomnia which no one ever really needed, based on the general premise of the love gods being far too invested in Nico's love life again to give him an easy way out; instead heaven and earth will be moved yet again, so some dramatic tension can arise between our two favorite demigods.<br/>A story telling of the hardships of love (from the perspective of a college student so done with literally everything right now), of the sacrifices one has to bring to find one's other half in life (i.e. agreeing to yet another dubious request of Cupid's) and finally of acceptance and finding happiness in one's own pace and manner (sometimes love does work in strange ways).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there everyone!
> 
> I just recently finished reading the Trials of Apollo #1 and felt this really weird rush of inspiration driving me to do something for the Solangelo fandom. Must be some muse sent by Apollo ^^  
> So here you have it!  
> (=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)  
> I hope you can all enjoy my new work and if you do, please leave kudos and comments! ^^
> 
> Until next time!  
> Wavyscribe
> 
> A/N: No demigods were harmed in the production of this fanfic. All rights to their rightful owners, only the plot and my feels belong to me.

Nico's heart must have stopped the moment he saw the demigod fighting by his side fall bonelessly to the ground. In a display of exceptional will he summoned up his last reserves of strength to call upon the earth, the dead, everything that'd heed his desperate invitation. The beast before him fell to his knees dissolving into a golden mist without fully making contact to the ground. His heart sank when he turned to make a mad dash for the side of his fallen comrade.

Kneeling down, the son of Hades gathered the other demigod gently in his arms and propped his head up on his thigh. His sword of Stygian iron lay forgotten, embedded in the cold, chipped earth. The tremors of battle had finally stopped wrecking the peace of the land.

As if already knowing of all the chaotic, painful thoughts swirling through Nico's paralyzed mind in repetitive waves, the blond reached up to trace an invisible line along his ivory jawline in a calming motion.  
Nico could only manage to close his gaping mouth, stunned eyes locked onto the patch of crimson red slowly growing in size on the cloth covering the blond's chest.

"Live on, di Angelo. If not for your own sake, then for mine at the least. It's just like you to keep me worried even-", the blond broke into a series of gut-wrenching coughs, thin body curling in on itself. Yet, after a few minutes he only managed a weak smile whilst settling back down onto Nico's lap.

The demigod doesn't know what it was that made him snap back to reality. It might have been the blue-eyed boy's silent acceptance of death, the pain radiating off his dying body or something else entirely. The piercing look of adoration and sorrow, perhaps even the cool touch of the demigod's once familiarly heated fingers startled him out of his stupor and his heart rate began to increase, cold sweat beading on his forehead and running down his back in a slow trickle.

He grasped the hand still painting patterns on his cheek and nuzzled it, trying to seek warmth that was quickly dissipating.

Panic overcame him and he'd even have send a prayer to the darkening sky if he'd known it would beget them any help. But by now he had already long since realized in his core the cruelty of the world. The gods rarely lent an active hand in these cases, they much rather prefered watching silently, observing without directly intervening. What a twisted form of entertainment it was.

The hand stopped abruptly mid-stroke and fell back feebly against the blond's sides.

"Don't-, don't even say that as a joke. I promise I'll get you back to the camp, so the Apollo cabin can treat you. They'll have ambrosia and... I- dammit, I won't let you die, not now, not like this... Please, please don't leave me again. I swear on the river St-"

The blond raised a weakened arm again, skin only palely reminiscent of its usual healthy tan, blood flaking off his dirty nails. He silently stroked away the wetness that had started to form in the corners of Nico's liquid green eyes leaving a trail of faint red.

"You don't have to go that far for me. I get it. I really do, di Angelo. So don't make me worry when I'm in the underworld, yeah? That wouldn't be fair, now would it? To the both of us." He smiled, expression tinged with sorrow and thinly-veiled pain. "I'm sure you'll meet someone better for you. Someone who's better than me. Better than Percy even."

A shadow of sorrow passed over the fading blue of his eyes and he turned his head away in shame. He lowered his hands as if to cover the burning heat of his cheeks. It was just like him to get jealous over nothing even when the one he loved more than anything was finally only looking at him, although they didn't even have another second to spare.

"What, but... I don't, no, I don't want anyone else! Don't you ever question that. We-, I still haven't-"

The blond lifted a quivering finger off his chest to touch it to Nico's cold and chipped lips in a familiar gesture of mock-annoyance, then smiled one last time. His breath leveled into a soft noise only audible when Nico strained his sore ears. His skin and extremities were reddened by the sharp winds, his hair was swept to the side covering one eye. Had his bangs always been that long?

Maybe Favonius was still mocking him. Cupid was certainly more entertained than ever by his now second failed attempt at love.  
Nico shifted on the ground, positioning his back against the sharp winds subconsciously as if to shield the other demigod's body from the elements.

The son of Hades doubted that he'd ever regard someone that dearly, cherished someone more than even his own life just a few years ago. Not that he had ever regarded his life as the scrawny teen everyone knew not to get too close to as something precious and worth being thankful for.

But the blond had changed everything. From the moment he fell headlong into Nico's life, all his walls he had put up over the years to protect the still hopeful parts of his not yet hardened heart just crumbled away as easily as if they had never been there in the first place.

Piercing blue eyes seemed to hold the keys to every single lock that shielded him from getting too close, from wanting more than just the occasional sparring session, from inevitably getting hurt in the end.  
And somewhere in the process he realized that he had finally forgotten his old life and was possibly even ready for a fresh new start with a certain stubborn, but kind, blue-eyed, blond-haired boy that just wouldn't let go of his hand no matter how hard he tried to writhe his way out of the other's firm hold.

"Wouldn't even let me finish talking when I'm already like this, eh? It's kinda-"

The blond's sentence was suddenly cut off by a few more sickening coughs that seemed to spasm throughout his entire body leaving him tired and raw in their wake. He held his closed fist against his mouth to stifle the sound, but to no avail. He knew that he'd remain a man nearing his imminent and undeniable end.

When the coughs finally subsided again, his hand came away bloodied. His tongue felt parched and his vision was blotchy, colourful shadows surrounding the boy he gazed upon like a rainbow of halos. Rather ironically fitting for a son of the underworld, one might say. The blue-eyed himself however could only muster up another faint smile. A few seconds trickled through the clouds forming above their heads as if the sun itself had wanted to flee the scene and hide away behind the dark, ominously looming storm clouds.

Then the demigod continued, voice raspy with exertion and blood loss. Still, he managed to keep on with sheer power of will.

"It's... kinda reassuring to know that you won't change. That you'll always be and stay a constant, the Nico we've-, I've loved all this time, even after it's finally my turn to drink from the Lethe."

"No! I don't, I don't want that. You promised! You promised to stay with me, even if-, don't leave me on my own now... Don't you freaking dare!" A sudden thought flashed through Nico's mind and his expression cleared to show a last spark of hope. "Right, the seeds! I can put you into trance, so you don't-, we'll have more time!"

"It's no use, di Angelo, I'm too far gone for anything short of a miracle right now." He reached out yet again to brush an unruly lock of dark hair behind Nico's right ear. Mere second later it defiantly sprang back to its original position perched on Nico's sweat-soaked forehead. Mocking the blond's futile efforts to cling to life perhaps. The blue-eyed laughed to himself. He grew poetic in the weirdest settings. "And those never come easy for us, do they?"

More and more tears followed the ones that the other boy had just wiped away, carrying the initial trail of blood into oblivion. A wet heat layered hotly onto his already flushed face, numbing his pain, but doing nothing to soothe the frenzy of his heart throbbing into overdrive.

"I will get you into camp and if it's the last thing I do. You can give up as the hell much as you want, but as long as I still have a word to breathe, you are not going anywhere, not without me, understood? Doctor's orders."

"N-now, wh-who's the doctor here, huh di Angelo?"

Nico's laboured breath puffed out in small iridescent clouds just as the first drops of rain wet his brow. The heavens seemed to be weeping for the unlikely pair of demigods that had finally found each other only to be torn apart again on another whim of the gods.

Life had never been fair for Nico di Angelo, so why should it suddenly start preaching justice now?

Although the blond was much taller than him in statue and much heavier at that too, the demigod still struggled onwards one careful step planted after another, exhaustion and his own numerous burning wounds and cuts forgotten. The dark-haired had a pale arm wrapped around the other demigod's waist and the blond's left arm thrown haphazardly over his heaving, shuddering shoulders. A scrap of fabric Nico had torn off his clothes he kept pressed to the wound in order to lessen the bleeding.

There was no moment in his life that Nico hated being born a child of the underworld more than when he had to physically feel the life force slowly seeping out of the heavy weight settling hotly against his shoulder blades. Despair gradually replaced the glimmer of hope he had retained, had been harboring in a small, now crumbling alcove of his hurting heart.

"Come. _On_! We have to make it. No, we _will_ make it. Don't stop, _talk to me_!"

A soft, almost delirious voice rang out behind him. The blond spoke in a strange melody that bestowed a wondrous quality to his words.

"I actually thought we'd never get along, the first time we met, yanno? I thought that there wasn't anyone more my opposite than you back then. But eventually this slightly dorky and nerdy, far too scrawny kid just _had_ to make himself at home in my heart. Just couldn't help it, I guess. Love does take strange paths, heh."

His melodious voice was rapidly fading, his soul was leaving, but all Nico could do was to soldier on in the face of the unrelenting rain which soaked him to the bone. The earth shook and tremors loosened the earth and small stones, but whether it was due to the sudden storm or his efforts to keep the underworld at bay and the blond's soul tucked away safely inside his body, he didn't know. Nor did he care as long as it worked out for him - for _them_ \- in the end.

Just as he finally caught sight of the fireplace radiating warmth and beckoning them home, he felt the body ontop of his beginning to slip. A warm, wet heat pressed against the exposed slip of skin where his hairline met his neck and then vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Five words echoed throughtout the damp forest and despite it being only a mere whisper by now, it was heard by everyone. However, the true gravity of them were felt only by one Nico di Angelo who was still stubbornly dragging a cooling body towards the illusion of safety provided by the camp fire. As if it'd be okay if he could just reach that ethereal light shimmering above the hearth of Hestia.

The thick sheets of clouds parted slightly, letting a single beacon of morning light pass through until it reached the unmoving form of the demigod in Nico's arms, but whether it was consoling or mocking he didn't know.

The dark-haired demigod found himself reminded of the countless tales of moribund love in ancient mythology. But he didn't want the boy before him to be revived as some piece of greenery or set onto the sky as a new constellation. What he wanted was to share the rest of his life with this absolutely infuriating, sometimes far to childish and dorky jerk that knew him better than anyone by now. But as always he had become aware far too late, had realized only now the importance and impact of the other demigod on his life.

The son of Hades leant downwards to wrap himself more fully around the body in his lap, stifling his sobs, silencing his heart. Even though keeping the body from cooling would do nothing to keep it from dying. Just as he noticed the last of the other demigod's essence drip into the ground beneath them, he felt, more than heard, the last words of his one true love once more.

"Goodbye."

Nico couldn't stop the fresh torrent of tears and sobs from mingling with the rain, until he wasn't sure anymore of the fine line between the heaven's and his own tears of sorrow.

"I love you. Always."

 


	2. Fleeting Dreams and Infuriating Blonds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there!
> 
> How highly unusual for me to update twice in just as many days. ^^'  
> Anyways, enjoy and leave some kudos and comments for a poor writer, alright? 
> 
> ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ  
> Until next time!

Nico di Angelo was brooding.

 

Even if you were to ask him what exactly was bothering him so much, he probably wouldn't have been able to give a straight answer.

It was because of his class maybe, he told himself. Because of their new teacher, Mr. Chiron, who seemed nice enough and decent at his job at first glance, but still retained a indescribably odd aura of unapproachability and mystery around himself.

Thinking about it, it was probably also due to the fact that he had had to work an early shift at the coffeeshop today, too, and was currently functioning on less than four hours of sleep, two days in a row already.

But most certainly the student currently _sprawled out_ in the seat before him sipping leisurely at his scalding hot cup of coffee like nobody's business was the main culprit to blame for his obvious restlessness.   
Coffee so absolutely _smothered_ in milk and sugar, he wasn't actually even sure it classified as coffee anymore.   
He should know, seeing as he was the one who prepared the damn thing this morning. And it had been haunting him until now.

Will Solace.

The bane of his 21 years of existence.

And the absolute nerve the insufferable prick had this morning to flash him one of his trademark half-smile half-smirks when he'd swaggered into the room just a beat before him.   
He had set down his gaudily colored messenger bag at Nico's usual table, forcing him to blush, swerve sharply as to avoid running straight into the idiot (making an even bigger oaf of himself in the process) and finally settling down onto the only other available desk, the one directly behind his original one on which _he_ had now spread out today's choice of colourful textbooks.

That was approximately twenty minutes ago.

Until now he had sat there, silent but more than just discontent, boring holes into the shock of blond hair before him and cursing at least the next three generations of the jerk's family to come. They sure as heck deserved it even if they were just a fraction as annoying as he was.

No doubt it had to lie in the genetics.

Glowering and continuously producing death glares that would have put any vengeful spirit's to shame while silently cursing at people seemed to tire him out more quickly than he'd expected. As a result he drifted off bit by bit to the constant background droning of Chiron explaining the portrayal of the Erotes in ancient Greek mythology. His current severe lack of shut-eye may also have had something to do with him unable to keep his eyes open and ears attentive, in hindsight.

Nico quietly hummed to himself. In retrospect, hadn't he already dropped the Greek mythology elective years ago? The dark-haired considered the thought for a short moment, but dropped it soon enough as he didn't quite have as much brain power as to follow through on that particular thread of reasoning.

After a few more soft clicks from the novelty clock on the far wall had passed, echoing through the room, Nico was out like a light.

The clock showing an almost fully naked man dressed in only a flimsy scrap of cream colored fabric followed him into his dreams, although the originally faceless man did not remain without features for long. Slowly, but surely, the trademark smirk and slight kink in one brow of a certain infuriating blond crept onto the formerly blank gaze.

The image kept morphing and distorting until Nico was staring at Will Solace, albeit a very fit version of him (who knew what he hid under those hoodies he wore everyday; not that Nico was even remotely interested in his... assets; bad thoughts, Nico, bad thoughts). The blond was in the process of calmly nocking an arrow decorated with strips of colorful paper to his equally pompous bow whilst simultaneously playing an instrument that distantly reminded Nico of a miniature harp.

The dark-haired boy's hand twitched awkwardly at his side as if debating if morals and his self-protective snark were a thing even in his dreams.

However, before Nico could get a closer look at the glistening muscles working their charm in front of him or - heaven-forbid - touch something, all traces of the golden boy suddenly vanished into thin air leaving behind only a slightly frustrated college boy and an empty white canvas. Not that Nico would have missed him in any form or manner. Good riddance.

He didn't know how long he had been wandering around the landscape of nothingness. It could've been hours or minutes, but when he anruptly turned in reaction of an unfamiliar sound, he found himself inside a golden garden brimming with life and light.

Flowers of all colours and shapes grew in pots, patches of earth and up the side of a small wooden house set to his right sid against the backdrop of a romantically setting sun.  
A warm haze of sweet perfume and a thin sheen of moisture rested over the countless blossoming plants and young buds. Tiny rainbows surrounded the vegetation heightening their vivid hues.

In short he seemed to be caught in the dream of a 12 year old teen romance addict. Or in the wet dreams of a landscape designer. Either way.

 _Weird_.

A shrouded figure he had not noticed before stretched out lazily on an oaken bench placed near a small fountain. Delicate marble structures spewed water and glittery rainbows into the reddening evening sky layered with specks of gold and purple.  
With a small elegant hand gesture she beckoned him closer to her, patting the solid unpliable hardwood of the bench next to her. Nico found himself moving closer although he couldn't remember ever having consciously moved his legs.

A multicoloured rose seemed to sprout in her hand, but its numerous thorns didn't seem to draw blood from her soft palm and wispy fingers.  
A soft yawn, almost a musical sound reverberated through the garden wafting onwards to the far horizon the sun was dipping into.

His stunned silence and marvel at the work of art before him brusquely shattered. Now that he had sat down (when did that happen?) he was finally able to peer under her slightly translucent veil at a pair of warm brown eyes. A face, beautiful like that of ancient Roman statues, gazed back at him, looking deep into his very soul. After a while she turned away with a smile, seemingly satisfied with what she'd found.

A cold shiver ran down Nico's back despite the warmth of the evening. Despite being surrounded by peerless, meticulously crafted beauty from all sides, the whole thing didn't feel real to him. Something shattered at his feet, a sound like that of cracking crystal. He noticed that the patch of formerly vibrantly green grass at his feet had started to turn a sickly yellow, wilting slowly, spreading into all directions.

The figure whipped around surprised, smiled at him again as if he'd done something particularly funny and opened her mouth to speak.

"I'd usually leave the oracles and prophecies to Apollo and his messengers. But considering his current... _predicament_ I'll have to make an exception. Deem yourself lucky, boy."

She turned away, green eyes directed towards the sun sinking low beneath the illuminated earth. Faint sunrays caught in her blond hair and sequined veil, lending her an ethereal other-wordly glow.  
She looked out over the rolling hills and endless sky, over the garden that was now gradually being shrouded in a dark mist. The brilliantly leafy ivy that had covered the entire expanse of the sun-facing side of the wooden shed withered and fell to the ground in dead patches of parched vegetation.

When she turned back to him her blue eyes sparkled in what resembled curiosity.

"I never understood why he was so infatuated with you, but you do seem to be a bit... Special, don't you?"

A clear and bright chuckle rang out and bounced of the carefully painted and patterned pots hanging from the side of the wooden shed. The fountain had stopped spewing its long rays of tranparent water. The garden was growing faint, as if he could reach out and escape its formerly tight grasp on him.

"Remember well, son of the underworld. I will not repeat myself again."

A few velvety petals of the rose in her hand loosened from the blossom and sailed to the ground like shed feathers. Nico couldn't help but notice a single drop of golden liquid on one of them.

"Love always has its thorns."

Nico looked up to find a dark-skinned beauty resting her gaze upon him and he suddenly felt very small im his skin. In the next moment a golden hand had cast away the rose in her hand, now fully wilted to a dark unattractive grey.

"Seems like our time here is up. Until next time, o child scorned by love."

Nico, too scared to look the figure into her eyes before, stopped fiddling with his fingers and glanced upwards one last time, confusion settling heavily into his heated mind. A lost sunray caught in his long eyelashes and he was blinded for a few seconds.

When the light had finally disappeared beyond the mountains and the bright lights had moved on he found himself looking straight ahead.

Right into the scarily questioning, too close for comfort face of Will Solace, a shit-eating grin seemingly permanently etched onto his features.

"I'll be fucked."

If physically possible, Will's initial surprise clears into what was essentially a bigger, broader, exponentially more annoying version of his usual flirty grin.   
Which he had never had turned on him before. It just didn't happen when your name was Nico di Angelo and you wore more black than employees at a funeral home. He should know, his dad owned one.

"Well, does that mean you're offering then?"

The blond smirked lopsidedly, one eyebrow dipping lower than the other one. Nico cursed the flash of electricity traveling down his spine. He did not find Will Solace adorable.

Nico spluttered unhelpfully, face resembling a tomato more and more to his chagrin.   
Finally, after giggling at Nico under his breath for far too long, Will relented.

"We should make a list."

Nico froze again, his jaw opening and closing as if he had suddenly turned into a fish struggling to breathe on land. Gears turned slowly in his head grating in normally unused cycles. He was struck entirely outside of his element. How did you do this social thing again...? Right, he can do this, he'll just have to...

"Wh-wha-, what is...?"

Not his most glorious or intelligent attempt at conversational small talk, but it'll have to do for now. The only problem was that even he himself was painfully aware of how absolutely stupid his stammering sounded. But considering that he was, once again, truly and utterly out of his depth, he'd done worse.

Keep it up with the fish puns, di Angelo. A sarcastic, self-ridiculing smile managed to settle onto his face for a few long seconds before he managed to school it back into his usual, slightly irritated mask. Jason called it constipated, but he could take his opinions and stick them up where the sun never shone.

Apparently that fleeting crack in his social disguise triggered Will's mother hen instincts.

"What's up?" A concerned frown replaced the blond's easy grin and his hand quivered at his side as if he was physically restraining it from feeling Nico's forehead. "Do we need to take you to the infirmary? Sorry, but you look like death."

"I'll be yours if you don't shut up."

"That's better, heh. The Nico we all know and love."

The shadows lifted from Will's eyes and his mouth settled into his usual 1000 Watt smile.

"How do you even know my name?"

"Well, you're kinda campus-famous, cha' know? They even gave you a nickname. Ghost King. I think it's rather fitting."

If he had to spend another minute in the destructive path of Will's bright smile and sparkling eyes, Nico was sure that he'd do something that was definitely all kinds of socially unacceptable and probably also illegal in at least 49 states.

Instead he just turned away and mumbled the question that had formed in the back of his mind at the very start of their exchange.

"Why are you even talking to me?"

"Ouch, don't go breaking other people's heart like that, casanova."

He faux swooned with one hand clutching his shirt over his heart and the back of the other hand touched dramatically to his forehead.

"You're an idiot, Solace."

Nico couldn't help the faint smile that spread stealthily from one corner of his lips to another accompanied by a treacherous reddening of his cheeks. He just prayed that his Italian complexion and the cheap artificial light in the room would cover it up sufficiently or he could never step out the door in the future.

Nico di Angelo, antisocial extraordinaire, blushing wildly just by being in Will Solace's presence?

Definitely a no-no.

The dark-haired reached up to brush the hair out of his field of vision frowning slightly. He really should go cut them sometime soonish, he thought.

"The report, di Angelo. You know the one that Mr. Chiron announced just a few minutes ago?"

Will chuckled, a sound that made shivers ran down Nico's sides.

"Report? Wait, what report?"

"Oh, just the one that the two of us" - he gestured to the both of them in an exaggerated motion - "are going to do for the next few months."

At the front desk Mr. Chiron closed a rather heavy-looking notebook. No doubt medieval - or in Mr. Chiron's case ancient Greek, he supposed - methods to instill fear in your new class.

"About seventy percent of your grade this year will be depending on the quality of your projects. You may fhoose your partners freely. Oh, and slack off at your own risk." He cast a challenging glance around the room, then chuckled, his voice deep and rich of mirth. "Don't say I haven't warned you."

The blond that had remained seated just opposite of his desk (he seemed to have turned his chair at some point so he could sit on the same desk as Nico) stood and came up to where Nico was shocked into silence wrapping an arm around his rigid shoulders.

Nico glanced around the high-ceilinged room looking for some kind of reprieve, someone else that was still free, anything, just not the boy sitting opposite him wearing an ever-growing smirk. Sadly, due to his extended daydreaming it seemed he had missed the critical moment to snatch up someone he could talk to once at the very most, then proceed to split up the work with. Preferably over some kind of online chat. Jason, the traitor, a quick check told him, had already gathered his stuff and was now sitting with some pretty brunette.

A stolen glimpse at Will confirmed his fears.

"Seems like you're stuck with me, huh, death boy?"

Mischief twinkled in the blond's eyes and Nico couldn't help wanting to wipe that grin off his dimpled face.   
With his mouth.

The dark-haired shook himself mentally. Today was going to be a long long day for him.

The blond in question just looked at him innocently, lopsided grin reappearing with a vengeance.

Nico covered his reddening cheeks in shame.

  
This boy will be the end of him. He had _never_ been more sure of something.


	3. Calm before the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo~ readers!
> 
> I'm surprised, but really grateful for the people who've decided to pick up this fic. （＾◇＾）
> 
> To make my updates more frequent (sadly I don't have any more pre-written chapters for now), please comment and tell me what you like/dislike about my story so I can feel more motivated!  
> (￣Д￣)ﾉ
> 
> Kudos and bookmarks are welcome too ^^  
> Oh god, this was long...
> 
> Until next time~

Thinking back, Nico has known Will for a big chunk of his childhood and now part of his awkward adulthood too.

However, they'd only been 'faintly acquainted' at best and 'little more than strangers' at worst, since all the way back in 10th grade when they'd attended the same highschool.

As such they had never really spoken to one another or had any kind of meaningful conversation besides the occasional casual " _Hello_ " when they passed each other on their way to their respective class rooms. Their old highschool made them change rooms fairly often, so it was no surprise that they'd run into each other now and then.

  
But still, their social circles were too different, their interests too far apart on stark opposites of the broad spectrum of possible hobbies. Thinking about it, Will had always been more of a sun to Nico's moon. Moving along in the same system, yet never actually facing each other head on; an earth always jammed somewhere between them.

For Nico, it was partly because he had been much more fixated on several other things back then to notice a certain blond that always hovered nearby, but kept just out of sight.  
On a certain _someone_ who seemed to only have sea weed for brains, as an easy example, and who'd always - to Nico's dismay - had his eyes pointed firmly in the direction of a member of his school's _scariest_ girls, with only ever his back facing Nico.

Sometimes even now, when he passed them on campus - a minor miracle really that they had all ended up going to a local, but rather renowned college, he sometimes thought - it still sparked lingering pain from a wound that never had the opportunity to fully close and heal, leaving ugly, still painful scars from all those years ago.

Sometimes Nico feels that he has no choice but to cover himself up with self-preserving sarcasm and excessive snark.  
Whether it was by pushing people back when they got too close and personal for him or simply by never even letting his sparse relationships grow to that point.

  
His mask had never cracked before and yet he wasn't sure if he should be proud of that fact attesting to his unbroken loneliness. Normally people gave up way before Nico could slip up and reveal more about himself.

But Will wasn't exactly what you'd call normal, not by any definition of the word. At times he was just like a tropical storm, constantly trying to approach Nico, always pushing and pulling, never resting for a single second.

"And _hot_ , _so hot_ ," His mind supplied unhelpfully.

Starting somewhere around the beginning of their freshmen years in college, Will had begun to stick to him like a wet shirt on a hot summer day. Annoying as all hell and maybe even a bit creepy, had it been someone else than Will Solace, the poster boy for just about any brand of expensive sun lotion or toothpaste one could imagine.

Just as every rule had an exception, every contract some kind of loophole, so an oddly attentive blond had somehow wormed his way right into Nico's once intentionally isolated everyday life.

At first it had just been simple pleasantries exchanged when they'd occasionally meet heading to the same facilities or visiting the cafeteria for a quick snack.

Nico studied forensic sciences while Will was in pre-med, it was no miracle they kept getting into each other's daily routine, albeit almost uncannily frequent. Even their respective choice of majors reflected their personalities to some intent. Nico examined _dead_ while Will did just the opposite. He actually studied to heal people, to bring them back onto their feets, something Nico wouldn't ever have managed, not in a hundred years.

He absent-mindedly wondered how long it had been sincd last time he hadn't been surprised by the blue-eyed blond somewhere on campus on an almost daily basis.

With Nico additionally manning the register every other day at a coffeshop just a small distance off campus, a rather popular student haunt, they were sure to see a small horde of the same sleep-deprived pre-meds going in and out on an odd busy weekday.

Still, it _did_ seem plenty strange to Nico that the one subject he took together with Will was a biweekly course on Ancient Greek and Roman _Mythology_ he, bizarrly, did not even remember entering himself into.

Sure, it was a topic he _had_ once been fairly interested in and enjoyed probably more than he should due to a popular cardgame from his childhood, the name of which had long since been obliterated from Nico's brain.  
Yet his initial enthusiasm and childlike wonder had faded away rapidly, just like pretty much _everything_ did after his life went downhill, just a few days before a particular birthday of his.  
He realized that he probably hadn't known any real happiness since then.

Nico didn't really remember much of the actual day it happened on, for all the waking up sweat-bathed, hoping everything was just a particularly vivid dream. Expecting Bianca to walk right into his bedroom and calmly stroke away the lingering nightmare his, promising that everything will look better in the light of tomorrow's sun.

The things he does remember are only a few black and white images frayed at the edges by trauma. They were infrequent and at least partially forgotten or repressed due to his denial to confront them and finally accept.

Even now, he still hadn't gotten around to finally visiting her. There'd just... always been something else more _pressing_ , some matter more _urgent_  that demanded his undivided attention. And if it was just rearraging his few pieces if furniture or to clean his entire flat.

The flowers he tended to buy around the same time each year - a single splotch of colour in his otherwise monochrome, impersonal flat - had slowly withered to a soft gray and were now collecting fine dust on his unused coffee table.

Uncared for, unbeloved; just like their buyer himself.

His sister, she'd simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. At least that's what they'd told his newly eleven-year-old self.  
Maybe he'd started to lose his ability to connect with other people back then already, shutting off all attempts to socialize. Nothing was simply _worth the hassle_ anymore without Bianca there to praise him, to laugh along with him, to occasionally scold him when he went too far.  
She had been right there beside him to share his pain and sorrow in hard times as well as his joy and happiness in, admittedly, not so bad ones too.

Nobody _could_ replace her. Nobody would ever _be able to_ take the place his sister was still occupying, even though her soul had disappeared from earth.

Maybe a part of him died with her that rainy evening and was buried deep under the earth alongside the empty coffin bearing Bianca's name in delicate gold lettering.

They never actually got around to celebrating his tenth birthday, he noticed while reminiscing. Not that he still had a lot of people to celebrate his birthdays with.

Nobody really cared for him anyway. A dark, self-deprecating smile crept over his deepening frown, almost unnoticed by himself.

But still, a certain blond with unwavering, storm colored eyes couldn't be fooled that easily.  
Will had long since learned to glance behind the mask, to see the real Nico di Angelo, by now.

"What's with the long face, di Angelo?"

A pair of cerulean blue eyes loomed dangerously close to him, just inches from his face. Nico blinked. And then - in a moment of poor judgement - attempted to lower his gaze in order to inspect his suddenly much more interesting hands which were folded loosely under the table.  
The sudden motion brought his forehead painfully against the chin of the blond who let out a surprised and indignantly high squeak.

Despite the blistering pain on his swelling head Nico chuckled. It was a freeing feeling, he realized with a start.

He didn't want to know the implications that came with that.

A tanned hand came up to reach under the blond's chin, gently stroking a slowly coloring sore spit. Nico was suddenly overcome with the unreasonable urge to replace Will's thin and delicate fingers with his own.

 _Huh_.

"For your information, that just now? That was _just_ a manly shout. Definitely. Don't you even _dare_ think otherwise. If you go around giving other people the wrong idea, I'll have to murder your face. And I'll be happy doing that."

Will smiled sweetly and leant down to whisper into Nico's left ear. The almost touch caused ripples of something warm to spread over his heating cheek.  
The dark-haired turned his head so he could get some more distance between them.

Distance was good, distance was safe.  
And this was decidedly not good for his heart.

Will's mouth, still breathing softly, blowing hot air on the tender skin behind Nico's ears, slid against a few loose strands of hair and the blond let himself fall back, his spine flush against the backrest.

"Your hair smells kinda nice."

"Wh-, Will goddamn Solace, I did not invite you here so you could keep slacking off. I know I shouldn't have-, ugh... Why you little..."

Nico raised his gaze to the bookshelves standing like a maze around then, shielding them from prying eyes in the other isles, in an attempt to calm himself. These days no one ever came to take a closer look at - Nico squinted to make out the title of the book perched on a cart behind Will - "The mating habits of the South American Horned Frogs"?

He shook his head at the book and glanced back at his... _Friend_? He hadn't been sure of what they were for a long time now. Actually he'd never really been.

It had been easy with Jason and recently with Percy too. They fell into the best buddies rountine as smoothly as if they had been just that from day one, but Will was... special. He'd never known where they stood exactly, never knew if there was a label that could fit his delicate maybe-friendship, maybe-acquaintance with the blond.

  
Speaking of friends, Nico hadn't gained many since highschool. In fact, he was positive he could count the people that gave a damn about his general wellbeing on a single hand, at least half of them scheduled to travel overseas at the end of the year. Maybe one and a half if you included Hazel, but she's family and therefore practically obligated by law to love him.

Nico must've swayed a bit where he was seated in an uncomfortable plastic library chair pouring over a list of ideas for their upcoming project. He realized because in the next moment he found himself with an armful of puppy-dog-eyed pre-med-student feeling up his right wrist, cool forehead pressed against his to check his temperature.

It did some funny things to Nico's insides to see Will this _close_ and concerned over... him. Whether he felt unwell or sick.

However, he felt more like crying than laughing.

There were not many people left in his life who'd care. Heck, his own father sure didn't.

"Talk to me, Di Angelo, I'm a doctor."

"Back off, Solace, you're not, not yet anyways, and I'm not sick."

After a while he relented under Will's withering glare, feeling incredibly small. Nico sometimes wondered who'd taught _him_ of all people to glare like _death_  incarnate himself.

"Not anymore." He added, small voice almost an inaudibly silent mumble.

" _Huh_? That so?" _You're not done yet. What are you hiding?_

Will's syebrows rose so high they disappeared into his short bangs, eyes betraying nothing of his emotions. He quietly sized up Nico's reddening face, the sweat beading on his brows taking mental notes all the while. The blond clearly noticed everything the dark-haired wasn't telling him.

An unspoken command to keep on talking flickered steadily in his blue eyes, signaling that he was not taking no for an answer. Not today. That much was certain.

" _Look_ , Will, we don't even really _know_ each other, alright? You have no right to act like my mother, to act like you actually care. _You know what_? I'm just- We're just doing this stupid project together 'cuz I can't afford to lose any more credits and I don't know about _you_ but I just want us to be _done_ with it as soon as possible. Then you can go back to your big sparkly clique and I can go be by myself again, _okay_?"

Will was rendered speechless for a second by Nico's outburst. Then he reached for his dirty book bag, opened it and uncaringly threw in a few of the textbooks he'd just pulled out and placed on top of their desk. The rest he couldn't fit, he took into his left hand and stood. 

With Nico still seated the difference in height between them seemed more unsurmountable than ever.

Nico has done it. Yet again.

Will fixed Nico with a stern look that made the dark-haired want to slouch and sink into himself for a litttle bit. To make himself as small as humanly possible.

"No one _deserves_ to be alone. And if you _still_ think so after all this time, after all these _years_ , after knowing how much all these people, your friends, see in you, how much they believe in you-"

Will pauses, swallowing back a clump in his throat.

"Then I'm clearly wasting my time here, di Angelo."

The angry blond had reached the end of their small island of short-lived serenity and knowledge. On his way out he knocked against an older, slightly weathered bookshelf.

  
A single book fell from the lowest rack.

"The mating habits of South African horned frogs" indeed.


	4. An Intervention

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good day to you! 
> 
> Hope everyone's had a good start into school/work/training until now.  
> Hopefully this new chapter can brighten your day a bit, and if, say, you want to brighten mine, you're always welcome to write a comment and leave some kudos ^^
> 
> Until next time!

"... _I love you. Always_."

The same tear-stained smile lingered in his dreams every night. The same unblinking eyes, an almost _unnatural_ , electric shade of blue, beckoned him closer and closer yet, pleading for him to stay just a moment, a second longer.  
The same shaking hands reaching up to rest on his heated cheeks, far too cold to his touch, appeared every night to haunt him until the sun finally rose over the horizon signaling the birth of a new morning.

Again and again he saw these memories.

Although they always felt distant and removed, as if from a different timeline or maybe a different life entirely, he still couldn't tear himself away completely, couldn't harden his heart against the sight that welcomed him into slumber every night.  
The familiar words kept ghosting by his inner eye, never failing even just once to leave a pungent, bitter taste in their wake.

The expression he remembers seeing on the boy's face too many times already to count had been almost too intimate, too familiar, like something he hadn't been supposed to bear witness to. A forbidden fruit under the moonlight.  
And yet, all he could do was to watch in silent horror as death tore into him. Watch the fragile soul in his arms shatter and break, slowly coming apart in his arms with every breath he took.

Every out of focus glance from beneath lowered eyelashes cut deep into him like a serrated knife into vulnerable skin.  
Soft clouds of water vapor kept pouring skywards from the blond's mouth in a continuous string, ascending gradually like an image of his escaping soul.

Nico's regrets churned and sizzled painfully in the depth of his heart, but he still couldn't bring himself to say those three simple words.

_What was he even afraid of?_

He had lost everything already. There was nothing _left_ anymore.

"His soul is still dying, you know?"

The scene had suddenly changed and he found himseld face to face with the same delicate beauty in a familiar garden, speaking to him as if in a trance.

"His...? Who is...?"

Nico realized with a jolt that the captivating presence of the veiled woman no longer commanded his entire attention. He seemed to be able to form words now at the very least, although he still felt that actual, coherent sentences were far beyond his current capabilities.

The woman brushed her glossy, ebony locks over one shoulder and chuckled.  
Nico felt sudden anger surging up at the atmosphere that seemed to be wafting off of her in irregular waves. It made him feel oddly out of place and slightly ill at ease. Yet, he didn't remember having ever seen her before. So what was it about her that had him shifting from foot to foot, balancing on a sharp edge with his nerves?

"Oh, _foolish_ boy." She chuckled again. An artificially crafted sound of elegance. "Your heart will always know me, even if your mind does not remember anymore."

Nico tried to move, but found himself stuck in place, as if someone had found a way to freeze the time in his direct vicinity. He knew better by now than to put anything past the mysterious presence revisiting his dreams every now and then.

"A word of advice, child of Hades, you'd do good to make haste. He's got less time left than you'd think. They tend to be rather... _fragile_ , these mortals, don't they?"

All of a sudden the beautiful figure encased in scarlet red hair flickered, becoming transparent, then took solid form again in quick succession.

She sighed.

"This dimension is unstable. Not even something as ancient and powerful as Love may be able to cheat Death itself. You've been given an opportunity. Use it well or you'll regret your choices for a lifetime to come, young demigod."

A mischievous smile slowly blossomed on her lusciously cherry-colored lips and goosebumps rose all over Nico's body. He was sure he could have heard a needle drop to the ground in the silence that ensued for a few long minutes that seemed to be stretching into infinity.

Then she swiftly rose up from the bench spreading her arms to either side and the brittle moment shattered.  
The sunlight caught on her glittery dress flowing over the cloth draped over both her forearms and Nico felt himself reminded of their first encounter. He used his arm to shield his eyes from the blazing light, noticing the blood rushing to his head and ears.

When he lowered his arms again, only a lone white dove could be seen in the distance diving under the skyline.

" _Don't disappoint me._ "

"Nico? Are you listening? _Hey_!"

The dark-haired in question blinked slowly in silent confusion and shook himself. Where was he again?

"I didn't take you out shopping, so you could zone out on me again. That's how many days you've been sulking in your woe-be-me-corner again?"

"I don't _sulk_ , Hazel. It's just... cotemplation."

He gave a quiet, indignant huff and turned away.

"Yeah yeah and I'm the queen of the underworld, what else is new?"

Nico gave a barely suppressed yawn and submitted himself to his fate.

He remembered now, although he would've _preferred_ to have forgotten it all. In fact, he was already starting to miss the soft cushions of his nice, warm and _cozy_ bed right now.

That morning, at an _ungodly_ hour where the whole town was still dead asleep, Hazel came knocking, merciless bearing down on his front door as if it had personally offended her and she'd planned to retaliate by raising an army of the dead.

In which she had almost succeeded.

  
Nico doubted any of his immediate neughbours were spared the fate of having to start their mornings particularly early today. At least he wasn't the only one who had to suffer, although he wasn't making himself any new friends with that attitude.

Who needed those anyway. He sure didn't. Nico tried to not feel any bitterness seeping into his thoughts.

After his rude awakening he had gotten up, grumpy and all _kinds_ of choice words readied at the tip of his tongue to rain doom over the offending person. Had they been anyone but his half-sister, that is.  
As it is, Hazel, sometimes knowing him better than he did _himself_ , had immediately put her foot between the heavy oak door and the door frame cutting any thoughts of dignified strategic retreat Nico had entertained (i.e. slamming the door in her face and beating a hasty escape with his tail between his legs) short.

After she had forced him into the bathroom with the words " _Jeez_ , go take a shower before I do anything to you that I'll regret tomorrow" and he had done so begrudgingly (He didn't _smell_ , thank you very much), Nico just simply couldn't be mad at the delicious scents wafting from his unused kitchen, his pride and dignity as a man be damned.

Pancaked were the obvious be-all and end-all of the known universe, at least where his unhappily grumbling stomach was concerned. His own body was abandoning his side. All help was too late for him by now.  
At least he couldn't sink farther down when he'd already hit rock bottom.

" _So_."

Nico looked up, stopping to chew on his deliciously sugary mouthful of blueberry pancake for a moment. A bit of syrup drizzled from his fork, frozen in mid-air, enroute to his mouth.

"Whoff?"

"Nico?"

"Wush?"

"Swallow your food."

Nico began slowly chewing again. Now that he'd gobbled down close to half of his plate already, he finally realized that he'd made a mistake. He should've beaten a hasty retreat the moment he'd seen his half-sister after all, definitely not immediately sat down to eat her arguably heavenly food.

He almost regretted the ill thought-out actions of his hungry mind. _Almost_.

When Hazel saw that he'd swallowed his last forkful, flushing the pancake down with freshly pressed orange juice - he hadn't even known he _owned_ a juice pressing kit, shows what you know - she began to speak again.

"So. What's wrong?"

Nico didn't speak for a few tense minutes, redirecting his gaze to the dead flowers on his windowsill as if it was the first time he noticed them in his flat. After a while he risked a glance back at his sister's unreadable face.

"N-nothing. Everything's fine. Dainty, really," Nico mumbled into the stiff collar of his simple white button-down Hazel had forced onto him.

She eyed Nico suspiciously, but remained silent, only an immaculate, curved eyebrow rising up to signal him to continue talking if his life was still dear to him.  
Sometimes he wondered how the once sweet and gentle girl who was almost three entire years younger than him had grown up to be that scary.

"Must be the genes."

Nico looked up from his lap as Hazel spoke, still examining him, judging quietly.

"Huh?"

"Dad is the same as you. Men. As if showing your feelings for once is going to kill you."

Nico didn't answer, instead turning his head to the side. He didn't want to talk right now. At _all_.

Hazel only gave another sigh, already used to her brother's usual antics. Her stern glare lost its edge, slowly turning soft and fond. After a while she wrapped his hand in her smaller, a tad too soft ones. He wondered what exactly he was even comparing her hands against.  
After smoothing over his pale skin with her thumb for a moment longer she stood up, pulling them both to their feet in a fluid motion.  
Nico was glad to see that he, at the very least, still had a few good inches of height on his sister. Good to know he wasn't failing on _every_ account.

"What are you-," He tried to free himself from his sister's vice-like grip, but to no avail. When Hazel was set on doing sonething, it would happen. Whether one wanted them to or not. His sister was a force of nature which you simply did not even _try_  arguing against.

What she set her mind to was inevitable. And if she'd have to walk over corpses in the process. As such, he'd rather like his not thrown somwhere into the mix.

A sense of cold dread began to rise from his chest.

"Hazel, where are we going?"

The 18-year-old turned, stopping just in front of his front door.  
A smile graced her features and she tugged harder at Nico's hand linking their arms together. One of these days he is going to the doctor with a dislocated shoulder. He just hoped that someday wasn't today. Or _anywhere_ in the near future for that matter.

"Why? Shopping of course. Nothing better to get a girl over a bad breakup!"

Knowing better than to protest that a) he wasn't a girl and b) any possible heartbreak he had suffered would've been years ago at least, Nico just resigned himself to be swept along with the natural phenomenon named Hazel.

After all, what's the _worst_ that could happen?


	5. A woman's Intuition

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I'm just gonna resurface from the dead and leave this chapter here. Like always, please comment and leave some kudos so I can get lots of motivation for future chapters.
> 
> (Note: Keep in mind that in here Hazel and Nico won't be time-travelling grannies. Furthermore other characters are how I'd imagine them to be if they hadn't been forced into a war for the sake of humanity (aka. they had a generic, but nice childhood).
> 
> Until next time!  
> Wavyscribe

Lou Ellen took a single look at his flushed face through a narrow gap between her door and its frame.

Then she promptly tried to shut the door in his face.

In a moment of idiocy, Will jammed his foot into the gap, immediately regretting his actions.

 _Ow_.

 

With the haze now clearing due to the sharp pain, he realized he had subconsciously ignored the possibility of another evening spent wallowing in self-pity (and _far too heavy_ anatomy books) in favor of going straight to Lou Ellen's.

With his clothes and wet hair disheveled and his coat slung haphazardly over his slightly too tall frame he just paused for a moment trying to catch his breath. At the same time he tried not to cringe too much from the pain radiating from his right foot which remained wedged tightly in the door.

Will wasn't even sure how he'd gotten there. But judging by the cool sweat currently pooling between his eyebrows, he was fairly certain that he'd run all the way.

 _Hmm_.

"W-wait! _Ugh_ \- Can't. You. See-"

Will gritted his teeth and pushed his shoulder hard against the ungiving wood. The pain made him wince again.

"This is _not_ funny, Lou. I _need_ -"

"How often do I have to tell you that I'm not your personal love counselor, Solace? It's always about what _you_ need, huh? What about _my_ needs? _God_ , I'm getting a divorce. Expect the official papers by next week."

Will wasn't all too certain whether the almost tangible irritation in his friend's voice was really just an act.

 _Well_ , here was to hoping.

"Lou, listen, I _really_ need help."

"Well, what else is new, Solace? It's almost as if you've got more problems than your patients do."

"I'm serious! _Please_? I, uhm, I brought donuts? They're a bit wet, but still edible... Promise?"

He intentionally didn't mention that the sweet offerings buried in the depth of his messenger bag had originally been intended to appease another dark-haired entirely, albeit with an equally fiery attitude.

Besides, his shoulder was getting tired and he was pretty sure that _something_ \- probably his _malleolus medialis_ (he's going to regret not having hit the books anytime now) - was going to hurt like hell tomorrow.  
A small price to pay.

" _Ugh_ -, I know- I just _know_ that I'm going to regret this, but come in. And feel free to make yourself at home. Not that you need me telling you to do just that."

She finally, _mercifully_ , released his foot from the deathtrap she called door and ushered him into her small flat with a hand on his left shoulder.

When they had finally settled into the living room with Lou Ellen glowering suspiciously at his side, an awkward tension settled onto their heads.

The blond stayed silent, perched shyly on a small corner of the dark-haired's vibrantly coloured couch. He stared resolutely straight at his fingers as if they held every answer to his failing social life.

Lou Ellen seemed to feel that something about his usual demeanor was off because in the next moment he found himself tackled to the carpeted ground, nimble fingers tickling expertly at his weak sides.

" _Ha_ -, wha-, _s_ -stop, I... I can't _breathe_ -"

After a few endlessly agonizing seconds of Will's personal hell had passed and Lou Ellen appeared sufficiently pleased with the even more sorry state she'd reduced him to.  
Will was finally allowed to gulp in some much needed oxygen, no doubt making an utter tool out of himself in the process.

"So. Wanna tell me what's got your knickers in a twist _again_?"

A grin crept onto her face and she walked closer to him coming to a stand mere centimeters from touching his back. The dark-haired planted her hands firmly on top of Will's shoulders, massaging the knots from his tensed body. Gradually her voice turned from slightly teasing to a soft whisper.

"Is it lover boy again?"

Will could feel his cheeks physically colouring and turned to hide away sideways behind his bangs.  
How were women always so scarily perceptive?

"H-how?"

"Call it a woman's intuition. Besides, the only time you ever run all the way here from campus - especially when it's raining buckets like this - is when you've had a fallout again. I _swear_ , your life is a teeny romance, Solace. And not even a particularly good one at that."

She smirked at him then settled down onto the soft pillows with his head cradled on her lap. A hand slowly carded through his hair massaging the exhaustion from his scalp.

He sighed.

"I had this grand story all planned out about a friend's cousin and how they're kinda, maybe, possibly, a bit... _troubled_ , you know?"

"Funny, Solace. As if I didn't know everything about your sad excuse for a social life already. That Cecil and I are your only friends, for example. Now tell me, what did you do this time?"

He hated it when she was right.

"The donuts are in my bag. We can-"

" _Nope_ , not today Solace. You're spilling. Right now. You woke me up from my well-deserved sleep, so it'd better be good or so help me God, you're _not_ walking out of this on two working legs."

Will suddenly really regretted having come to her for help.

When the blond had thought about the happenings of the day in the quiet of his dorm room, Will had immediately regretted his outburst. It had been childish and he knew it. Ever since then he had been wanting to apologize but did not know by the life of him as to how best to do it.

In short, he had needed a fresh perspective. And with Cecil ellbows-deep in his books (which reminds him, he _technically_ should be too) the only alternative had been paying Lou Ellen a visit, even though he doubted that his subconscious had reasoned that far on its own.

He wondered whether he'd have gone to Cecil's if he were available.

Maybe he should've stayed home after all.

Exams aren't waiting for anyone after all.

But so did love.

 

~*~

 

During the entire car ride Nico had stayed silent, lips tightly sealed together into a thin line. His eyes were directed firmly forwards as if he couldn't see beyond the tiny smudge nestled into a corner of the car's windshield.

Hazel more than made up for his taciturnity with her seemingly endless string of idle chitchat. How she still made it appear as if she'd been talking _with_ him rather than just throwing sentences _at_ him the entire time was a mistery to him.

"...Oh yeah, and did you know Percy and Annabelle just had their first baby? It was so _cute_ , you know? With her eyes all sparkly and this pretty shade of sea blue. Speaking of blue, the sky's a really unhealthy colour today, huh? Almost like a certain _someone_ in this car-"

Nico's spine gave a sudden start and he snapped to attention, his back straight as a rod.

"Wait a minute, what did you just say?"

"That you look unhealthy? That's nothing new, is it? If you'd just start eating your veggies and put on a few pounds, you'd bring all the girls to the yard. Or, _well_ , all the blue-eyed doctors in your case. Although I'd bet my last penny that only _one_ catches your fancy, am I right?"

She giggled, the bright sound reverberating throughout the confined space inside her tiny car. Nico found the sensation of blood rushing to his face a very, very unpleasant feeling.

He _could've_ stayed home tonight. _No_ , he _should've_ stayed home.

A sigh escaped him.

"Thinking of McDreamy again?"

"What? _No_! Why? That's not even his name..."

"So you're saying there _is_ a he?"

"Ugh-, you're gonna be my early grave. One of these days, Hazel, one of these days..."

He crouched lower in his seat and supported his burning cheek on one hand.

"Well, you'll sure be _looking_ that part if you don't start eating properly."

"Shut up, I'm eating _plenty_."

"Half a sandwhich isn't considered 'plenty' by any stretch of the word, last time I checked."

"I just-, what _ever_. What I _really_ meant was-,"

He fixed Hazel with a withering glare which ended up being ignored as she was keeping her gaze firmly pinned somewhere out the window. Well, at least he didn't have to worry about her driving too irresponsibly.

"What you said. About _Percy_ and Annabelle?"

He prayed to anyone who would listen that Hazel hadn't caught the embarrassingly high hiccup. 

"Oh, Annabelle had her just last month! She's _such_ a cutie! You've got to have seen her to know how-"

Her momentum suddenly fell with the weight of realization and her brows creased slightly in concern.

"Nico, are you still...? Is that why? You know that Percy, he and Annabelle-"

" _No_ no no, I'm not-, I'm _over_ him. I've _been_. For a long time now. We were never been _meant_ to be, I know. Really.  I get it already. You don't have to tell me, _again_."

"Oh Nico. You know I just want you to be happy, right? I'd never-, I mean, isn't it time to, I dunno, move on to somewhere else? Some _one_ else?"

Hazel moved her hand onto a spot near his knee and squeezed lightly, her warmth seeping through the thin material of his jeans. With a few gentle motions she managed to coax a bit of the tension off his tired muscles.

"I know, Hazel, I _know_."

The rest of their journey remained quiet. No one dared to speak up and break the fragile, tentative silence hovering between them almost like a solid presence.

Nico was not going to retreat into his former shell again.

Not if Hazel could help it. And, _oh_ , she already had the _perfect_ thing planned out.

A sideway glance at his sister gave Nico shivers and enough hints to conclude that this was not going to be his day again.

A long, _long_ day was about to start.

 

Had smiling women always been this _scary_?


	6. Of Lingerie Stores and Blonde Mall Cops

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and merry Christmas!
> 
> I realize I haven't updated this for a while but school doesn't stop being evil to ya, even more so with college.  
> Have this next chapter of angsty Nico as Christmas present.
> 
> If you liked it, please to take the time to leave kudos or a comment ^^
> 
> Until next time  
> Wavyscribe

Nico heard him before even catching as little as a shadow of his weird choice in wardrobe.

" _It'll be fun_ ," she had assured and re-assured him.

" _It'll give your mind something to focus on other than blue-eyed doctors or studying nonstop and working yourself straight into a straitjacket._ "

He should've _known_ that it wasn't that simple. It was never simple wherever Hazel was involved. He wouldn't even put it past her to be the mastermind behind it all.

  
Nico really should've known better. He should've known by now that practically the entire planet and their dog had it out for him.

What'd he _ever_ do to deserve this?

Once again, Nico heard the unmistakably distinct, slightly breathless laughter minutes before a familiar blond head came in sight, slowly rounding the corner of a bustling coffee shop. Clishéd ice cream cone in one hand, pretty girlfriend in place next to him.

Something dark that he couldn't quite put his finger on churned deep in Nico's guts and he was sure that it wasn't the tacos they'd just had.

His stomach grumbled again.

 _90%_ certain.

 

The mall they had found themselves in was huge and open almost every day of the week.  
He could _literally_ have visited any other day and spared Nico the embarrassment but today absolutely - _positively_ \- had to be the one day Will _goddamn_ Solace picked to socialize and rub his working relationships in everyone's face.  
The worst thing was, Nico couldn't even find anything inherently wrong with his girlfriend.

The dark glossy hair framing a pair of sharp vibrantly green eyes, thin lips which had a healthy hue of red to them accenting a slightly angular face. All of her, _admittedly not unattractive_ , physical traits just served to make the two of them out to look _even more_ the part of an ideal couple you'd expect on the cover of youth magazines.

The only remaing hope he harbored and desperately clung to was the possibility of her personality being as ugly as her face painfully wasn't.

 _Well_ , he never claimed to be above taking out his ever-lasting misery at the expense of other - _probably even perfectly nice_ \- people. As long as they didn't officially know each other (and probably even if they did someday in the future) he would continue cursing the next three generations of her family without any moral qualms.

Nobody he knew would consider him anywhere close to being a functional adult anyway. Not that he was getting there any day soon.

Sometimes he had more issues than Solace had freckles around his nose.  
Maybe actually _counting_ his feckles was one of them.

What he didn't entirely understand was why he cared so much about who Will was friendly with these days. _Sure_ , he despised pretty much everything the sociable idiot was prone to doing but it wasn't as if he held any power over how Will decided to spend his free time.  
_Heck_ , he had even explicitly told the dork in question that mere acquaintances was the most he'd consider them as.

So why did his unreasonable heart pound painfully against the inside of his chest every time Will's free hand brushed against another hand with more colorful nails than his?  
For a second Nico remained rooted to the ground staring at the blond with a dumbfounded expression frozen on his face; stuck between his desires to stay and watch the way Will's tongue darted out occasionally to lick away stray ice cream or to run away before Will noticed him staring, battling it out ontop of his painfully writhing stomach.

It was similar to witnessing a murder scene. Nico felt too _horrified_ to move away from impending danger; but too _scared_ to stay put, all the way taking in every cruel smile, every torturous laughter in a hypersensitive state.

After a few calming breaths he finally managed to tear his eyes away, leaving a vaguely hollow feeling in his chest and the metallic taste of fresh bood in his mouth from where his teeth had broken through the soft skin of his inner cheek.  
The dark-haired had to keep telling himself that it's for the best, like a silent mantra not he couldn't even bring himself to believe in.  
Else it wasn't as impossible as he'd liked it to be that he'd-

That he would do  _what_ exactly? The question lingered uncomfortably in his still reeling and hyper-aware mind.

Nico turned away sharply dropping the thought entirely.

Without giving the still unsuspecting Will the pleasure of experiencing an almost overflowing expression of distress his face was no doubt showing, he reached behind himself harshly to take Hazel's hand and pull her to his side into the semi-shade of a thick supporting column.  
Which just _happened_ to be located next to a woman's lingerie shop.

He and his stroke of _god-awful_ luck.

It wasn't _admittedly_  the best possible hiding spot, he thought quietly to himself, but it'll just have to do for now.  
He'd already made more than enough of a fool of himself with the end beinf nowhere in sight still.

At this point a few weird sideway glances were the least of his worries.

Hazel gave a high-pitched squeak as she was jerked around by the sudden motion and leant over Nico's shivering shoulder when she caught herself again to peek around the cold marble.

" _What_ the-, _Nico_ , why are you-?"

" _Shh_ -! It's _him_! _He's_ here!"

"Who is here? Why are we _hid_ -?"

In a moment of blind panic he thrust out his hand and unthinkingly slapped it atop his sister's bubbling mouth while hissing sharply.

Hazel stilled and Nico let out a breath he didn't know he had held in.

After a while the background murmer gradually increased in volume and Nico turned to look at the growing crowd.

More and more people were starting to gather around and Nico considered the situation he had found himself in.

A though struck him and the tips of his ears started to redden.  
He probably didn't look much like your neighborhood poster kid what with him currently muffling a girl's screams in front of a lingerie shop.

 _Gods_ , he hoped that no one would consider calling the cops on him.

After a quick hateful prayer to the mall's gritty skylights he looked down again at his squirming sister and frowned, sweat wetting his dark eyebrows.

"I'm gonna let go on the count of three and you will _not_ , I repeat _NOT_ , make a sound, alright?"

Instead of an answer Nico felt something wet pressing against the inside of his palm and reflexively yanked his arm away.

"What the-, _Hazel_!"

"Serves you right, _you_ -"

They were both caught off-guard by the sudden appearance of a hand coming to rest on Nico's shoulders.

" _The mall cops sure act fast_ ", Nico thought to himself as he turned around, thinking of an appropriate excuse, only to come face to face with the only thing he feared more than being thrown into the mall equivalent of solitary confinement.

He'd rather plead guilty and be sentenced to life-long imprisonment at this point. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with the blond not-quite doctors of this world.

One Will Solace who seemed slightly constipated stared him down in return with what looked almost like anger, putting any mall cop he had imagined to shame.

 _Why_ _would_ he _be_ _angry_ _though_ , Nico wondered for a minute then froze at the increasing pressure put on his shoulder.

Seems like he was in for a world of pain.

 _Again_.

He had slowly developed a knack of getting himself into unspeakable situation recently, didn't he?

At least the guys upstairs were having a blast writing his life. Nico would _love_ to strangulate them seven times to Sunday somehow.

He'd sure like to file a complaint with some distinctly kid-unfriendly choice words.

If he survived whatever was to come that is.

Looking up at the angry, almost hateful, but still oddly _hurt_ glare Will had directed on him made him want to melt into his boots.

Nico swallowed against the dry resistance in his throat.

He wasn't going to see the sun rise over the horizon tomorrow, was he?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope everyone has the best Christmas this year!  
> And if y'all wanna gift me something to, do consider leaving comments/kudos.
> 
> Until next time  
> Wavyscribe out.


	7. Impasse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo dear readers!
> 
> It's been a long time since I updated but I blame uni. *^*
> 
> This chapter has been brought to you by consistent procrastination and selective amnesia of when I have my exams.
> 
> I hope you'll like this chapter and have as mich fun reading as I always have writing.
> 
> If there's anything at all you want to tell me, don't hesitate to comment. Just leaving a kudo will make me happy ^^
> 
>  
> 
> Until next time.  
> Wavyscribe out.

A glaring ray of too bright sunlight pierced through his closed eye lids. They felt sore, worn, almost as if physically welded shut.  
The taste of expired milk lingered unpleasantly in his mouth and his dried tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Nico felt like finding a nice toilet bowl and crouching over it for the next week to come.

_But when did he ever get what he wanted?_

A soft groan escaped his parched lips as he shifted in place, trying to find purchase on the cold ground beneath him. In his blind struggle he only noticed the soft weight of cool petals when he brushed them off his face with an errant motion of his arm.

The unreal smell of countless flowers seeped into his mind as their scent permeated his initial panic.  
His lower lip split open under the pressure of his teeth and the metallic taste of fresh blood mingled uncomfortably with the too bright, too fragrant air.

He felt barely conscious, his mind flickering in and out of focus like a camera with an ill-fitting lense.  
After an indefinite amount of time had passed - it could've been anywhere from a few minutes to hours or even days for all Nico knew - he sluggishly came to.

With a last hearty groan he slammed an arm across his closed eyelids smudging his forehead with colorful stripes of dried dirt and leaves.

Although Nico still felt like he was wading in vain through waves of molasses, he hesitantly cracked open one eye while raising a free hand to shield them from the unforgiving sun.

Oh _no_.

Not _again_.

  
Once more, he had returned to a now more than familiar garden. Only this time a certain otherwordly appearance was nowhere to be found.

Not that Nico minded, that is.  
Good riddance in fact.

She'd always felt... strangely _dangerous_ to Nico. Despite her delicate, beautiful frame it was impossible not to feel the raw power radiating of her form. She was almost like a rose carrying poisonous thorns.

Or a Venus flytrap.

Nico never cared much for his greens anyway.

Cautiously he moved into a more upright half-sitting position against a half collapsed brick wall and leant hard against the unyielding stone and mortar. A spark of pain shot through his neck and the back of his skull.  
Better sleep on a _proper_ matress next time.

Although there wouldn't _be_ a next time if he could help it.

Gingerly the dark-haired turned his head and scanned the garden. His adjusting eyes took in the same impossibly beautiful blossoms sitting heavy and ripe on a bed of immaculately sculpted leaves and branches. The same fountain carrying crystal clear water as it sprayed colorful mist into the surroundings.

A feeling of distress and suspicion overcame Nico and he felt a cold shudder run down his lower back.

The eerie apparition was nowhere to be found.

Instead he noticed a smaller figure after a while - had she always been there? - which appeared to be crounching down near a flowering hydrangea plant. A straw hat shielded most of her head and facial features.  
However, even from a distance Nico could tell that she couldn't be human.

Petals of impossible hues, painted in multiple colours, yet colourless at once, opened to her beckoning palms, eager to please.  
The girl, too young yet to be called a woman, beckoned to him with a slight tilt of her head that Nico would've easily missed if he hadn't been so captivated by her shifting silhouette.

The girl brushed off what imaginary dust had gathered on her light coloured summer dress and stood up, fondling the blossoms a last time with the tips of her pale fingers.

"Seems I'll be doing the honors today, huh?"

The girl had turned while speaking, revealing a delicate face which rivaled that of the woman who usually frequented his dreams. Only her face wasn't a deliberately crafted artwork of precise beauty. It felt more natural, more down to earth, more human all in all.

"I get that a lot."

She said, never ceasing to smile benignly, a crinkle appearing next to her eyes.

Apparently, some things did stay the same. Although he'd rather preferred not to have his mind read constantly.

He gave a heavy sigh and began walking.  
The girl smiled again, thrusting her arms out to her sides, bending her legs at the knees so she could look up at Nico inquiringly.

"Let's try for a change of scenery then, shall we?"

After a few dazzled blinks on Nico's part she seemed to have come to a conclusion and turned back towards the setting sun, clasping her hands in front of her in the process. As if in prayer she tilted her head to face the last rays of a dying sun and mumbled something intelligible under her breath.

The light breeze picked up in intensity and a haze of wetness descended from the skies, shrouding the plants in sparkling dew.

Clouds obscured the darkening skies and Nico hurriedly placed both his hands atop his head.  
When he looked down again after realizing his futile efforts he was suddenly gazing into a curious pair of eyes.

"W-when did you...?"

A smile graced her thin lips and she reached up to pull his head down to eye-level.  
Conspiratorially cupping a hand around her mouth she spoke in an oddly melodious tone. Her words rang out clear against his ear in a language he understood but wasn't even sure was english anymore.

"You better hurry up, Prince Charming. After all-"

She leant even closer still, lips hovering over his heating cheeks for a few agonizingly silent seconds. Then the tainting smile returned in all of its glory.

"Destiny waits for no one."

She gazed into his eyes, her stare firm but sympathetic.  
For a moment her features shifted, hair turning almost golden, reminiscent of a rising sun, eyes blue as a clear day.

"Not even for a child of Death.

She moved closer still, her breath ghosting over his eyebrows, her words caressing his cheeks.

" _Especially_ not for Death."

 

~*~

 

Nico woke up with a start to a very live, very _real_ Will Solace pressing purposefully on his wrist with slender fingers.

His face was hovering low over his own, lips pursed and slanted to the side, brows slightly furrowed in an expression of deep concentration.  
As he watched, shell-shocked into a numb stupor, Will's tongue darted out the corner of his mouth to wet his rosy lips.

He was far too close for comfort. Nevertheless, Nico couldn't will his traitorous body to move away, couldn't bear the thought of leaving the heat that emanated from Will's body.  
The soft touches of the pads of Will's fingerstips on his reddened skin was too little and too much at the same time.

_Too little for what exactly, Nico?_

  
A moment passed.

Then another.

 

Nico was going to throw up.

 


	8. Car Ride To Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo~ everyone,
> 
> my trips to the horror land of exams and studying are getting longer and longer.  
> So I'll just come up for a lil air and leave this here...
> 
> Please tell me what you think in the comments! ^^
> 
>  
> 
> Wavyscribe out.

"So."

Will began, his voice sounding strangely distorted and slightly foreign even to his own ears.   
Flustered, he took a precious moment to clear his throat and calm his mind. After a few seconds the blond shrugged and continued with what he hoped sounded more solid than he felt.

"I'm confused."

Will shifted uncomfortably on top of his seat, a near permanent frown etched deeply onto his brows, but soon gave it up as a lost cause.

  
They were currently sat inside Lou Ellen's beat up car, wobbling along to the tremors of a motor that had definitely seen better days. Streets zipped by at gut-wrenching speeds Will was _certain_ would've made a senior police officer pee his pants.

He knew - who is he kidding, _knows_  in his quivering bones - that he'd made more than just the wrong decision, giving in as easily as he had.   
Will _knew_ better than to trust her on something - _anything_ at all - again. Still, that knowledge coukd do nothing to change the painful fact that he said yes - even if he'd only done so because he was unable to hold her disappointed gaze.

And _oh_ how he cursed every wretched second of his very own, personal hell on earth.

Once again, he braced himself against the dashboard, whitening knuckles stark against the dark material, cold sweat beginning to pool hotly at the dip of his neck just below his increasingly wet hairline.   
Every few seconds a trickle of certain doom would break free and flow down his back bringing his nerves that much closer to the point of no return.

A sudden jerk made Will's head snap up.

They made a sharp turn with Ellen badmouthing Google maps under her breath and his back flattened against the seat. His stomach lurched and Will felt a tiny fragment of his soul ascending silently to heaven.   
A shuddering puff of air escaped his lungs and the blond closed his eyes for another merciful second.

Will was going to be murdered _so_ hard. He just hoped she'd make it quick. And _preferably_ painless.

Although whenever Lou Ellen was involved in... _Really_ , any way at all...

Will sneaked another glance at his friend and future executioner who now had her tongue poking out the corner of a lop-sides grin, brows pulled taut in concentration. Then he took a long shuddering breath so as to not give in to the building urge to scream which was gradually threatening to take over.   
She'd look positively insane on a good day.

A sudden realization struck him and the face pouting back at him from the car windows frowned slightly.

He was dead. _So so_ dead. And he hadn't even confessed to his unhealthy crush yet.

Not that he was planning to, of course. It's... _better_ for it to remain like always, whatever _always_ meant for the two of them.  
Talking, but not being friends.  
Smiling at each other, but still total strangers when it mattered the most. After everything's been said and done, at the end of every long day they'd still never acknowledged anything that could've been between them.

Nico hadn't wanted to and Will wasn't going to force him to put a label on what they had.

Will didn't have to like it but the vague familiarity was the best he had managed all these years.  
Sometimes he felt the dark-haired reminded him of an easily spooked wild bunny...

...and Will immediately put the lid on _that_ particular can of worms, but not before adding "Nico with bunny ears" to his mental database.   
For... _research_ purposes strictly. _Uhum_.

Pressing his reddening cheeks against the cool car window, the blond shut his heavy eyelids and imagined to float back home, a safe distance from absolutely _lunatic_ speed devils and clueless Italians.  
Then his brain supplied the helpful piece of information that Lou Ellen couldn't be trusted if he had eyes open in the back of his head. 

Will opened his eyes so fast a few brightly coloured lights traced the edge of his unfocused vision. He blinked a few times and the dazzling specks dissolved back into the stuffy air in the car.

If looks could kill, Will doubted Lou Ellen would've survived long enough to torture him with her taxi from hell.

Even though he had made her swear up and down that the car wouldn't spontaneously combust, before he even agreed to as much as touch the passenger side handle, he already more than seriously doubted his decision to go along with her whims.

To think that he'd _willingly_ \- although Lou Ellen's whim could be more fittingly described as a fundamental force of nature - skip a quiet evening lying in bed, full of bad soap operas and - _yes_ \- a touch of self-pity, all in order to die at the rusty clutches of Lou Ellen's nightmare-mobile.  
He shook his head, cursing his tastes in campanionship silently. It was his own fault that he'd tried Lou Ellen first.   
At least the imminent risk of dying a fiery death kept him from his more self-loathing thoughts.

Sometimes he wondered if he was actually born with both his feet in his mouth. Not impossible considering the damp cloth he had for a brain.

The blond leant his head back against the stiff back-rest and started massaging his aching temples, fingers moving in slow concentric circles until he almost felt human again.

 _Almost_.

His brows furrowed and pulled together to meet in a glare of, what Will hoped, epic suspicion.

Except it wasn't suspicion. With Lou Ellen it was _certainty_.

 _Deadly_ certainty.

 

"I'm confused."

He repeated absent-mindedly, like a broken record skipping over the same line time and again, forever stuck in a painful replay.

"When aren't you ever, Solace? Tell me something I don't know, would'ya?"

As if to emphasize her point the car lurched forward with a start and Will was pressed against his battered seat. His sweaty hands curled around his safety belt, holding on for dear life. Will could tell by the uncomfortable rumbling surging in the depth of his guts that his breakfast was just waiting for a chance to come up and say hello.

Lou Ellen, with her hands planted firmly on the wheel, remained unaffected. Will had never been more sure in his life that she wasn't entirely human.

He kind of feared for his life.

As if he didn't usually.

In response to his earlier, very much vocal and only slightly squeamish protests she had only claimed that the chunk of scrap metal she called a vehicle was still - technically - road-safe, albeit slightly... adventurous, as she had put it, but that she was a woman of spirit and good faith, so he should be too.

"As much as you're missing the necessary parts, sometimes you've got an even more feminine side to you than yours truly. _Really_ , just look at you without your man."

She made an encompassing gesture and reached up with her flourishing free hand as if to tip an imaginary hat.  
Will _definitely_ didn't loosen his death grip on the mutilated piece of fabric and he most _certainly_ didn't close his eyes in silent prayer when they next sped onto a different lane.

 _Because_ Will was a _man_ and his sense of self-worth was in no way dependent upon what others thought of him.

(Except when it totally was every time Nico rejected his simple offer for friendship. Not that he wasn't self-destructive enough to stop offering.)

So that's why the blond only let out a tiny, _miniscule,_ but still manlysqueal the next time they turned a corner, his fingers and knuckles tense and almost white against the soft dashboard.  
He was almost sure he saw the imprint of his bitten nails eat itself into the cheap leather leaving uneven crescents indents in their wake.  
As if the entire _thing_ wasn't falling apart and disintegrating at the seams already.

In an attempt to calm his racing heart he started to slowly count down from ten while looking out the window at the passing shops and people.

 _10_ , 9, 8...

He _wasn't_ going to die.

 _6_ , 5, 4...

Lou Ellen's car was _safe_.

 _2_ , 1...

 _Lou Ellen_ was safe.

Maybe he'd actually _believe_ it if he'd just repeat it to himself often enough.

Houses, occasional trees and street lamps whipped past his window which now wore a smudge the rough size and shape of his face. Sometimes the wind picked up slightly and blew a handful stray leaves against the dirty glass.  
After what felt like an eternity spent in purgatory they stopped at a red light and Will let out a shuddering breath he didn't know he had been holding in.

Calmed by the welcome break of mercy he'd been granted from his friend's slightly less than stellar driving skills, the blond rolled his stiffened shoulders and turned to the side...

...only to almost bash his head against the cloudy glass.

In the car next to theirs a girl about the same age as him - maybe a bit younger - was seated in the driver's seat, ebony locks of hair undulating in glossy waves over her thin shoulders.  
From what he could see, red lips on a slightly round face perfectly accentuated her fair, pale skin.

However, what made him do a double-take wasn't the girl herself - pretty, but not the quite _right_ Italian, his mind supplied unhelpfully to his chagrin - but the person sitting next to her who was almost melting into the plush pink seat.

The girl had rested one of her unoccupied hands on the shoulder of a familiar dark-haired boy and Will's heart almost stopped. Acold haze wrapped around his throat and all the air escaped his lungs as if he'd been dropped naked into an icy lake.  
Actually he might have preferred that over what his eyes were telling him.

How was he even going to begin to compare to something like... _That_?

 _Of course_ Nico liked pretty girls.   
_Of course_ he was straight as they come.   
_Of course_ Will's never had a snowball's chance in hell to begin with.

Even Will wouldn't choose himself over someone so gracious and entirely... _perfect_.

Who'd choose little old Will if they could have the _sun_ instead?

"What's up? Why did you suddenly stop screaming? Did you crap your pants?"

Lou Ellen looked over for a second and her face visibly changed. Her features hardened, the once soft bow of her lips now set firmly into a stern, unwavering scowl.

"Do you want me to turn back? We're almost there though."

A wave of compassion passed over her face but it softened to a knowing gaze as quickly as it had bled onto her face. She knew that what Will need the most wasn't pity and empty words of vague encouragement. She knew not because he'd told her but because she could listen to his eloquent " _uhm_ "s and " _yeah_ "s and buy him ice cream from the money she stole from his coffee table.

What he needed the most right now was a good friend. And he may not realize it very often what with Lou Ellen's penchant to kidnap him with her death threat of a car but he felt fortunate and it made him unspeakably happy that it was _her_ he'd always see when he looked to his side.   
Not another mask of faceless sympathy saying that it'll be better.

Because no _matter_ how many faces had thrown him anxious looks and worrying glances, his mother wasn't going to come back from the dead.

Will shuddered and, admittedly, jumped a little when a warm hand appeared on his knee rubbing comforting patterns. A warm sensation spread through his chest and suddenly it was easier to breath again.

It lifted his spirits, even though it did nothing to lessen his sadness of his crush ending before anything could really happen, knowing she was always someone standing next to him. That she would remain a friend he could fall back to, no matter what happened.  
Someone who'd wait with open arms if not a safe car.

Sometimes he wished that he could've fallen for a certain tomboy instead, although he probably wouldn't have survived long if that were the case.

Lou Ellen gave him a soft nudge just before the light changed to a dirty yellow and the brakes shuddered slightly with overuse.  
Will liked to think he could muster up a smile despite the heaviness weighing down his heart but turned away soon after, to hide the prickling sensation building in the corners of his eyes.

The blond wasn't usually prone to showing much of his feelings. Maybe a certain dark-haired dork just brought that out of him. A certain dork he'd never be able to call his, because straight arrows don't bend. At least, they didn't for him.

And maybe Will should stop coming up with nifty metaphors to hide the feeling of emptiness behind. The walls he's put up never stood a chance anyway.

Maybe they could be friends after this. Whatever this had become, whatever this will never become _again_.

 _Maybe_ he'd even tell him someday. He imagined it to be some time when they were both older and the wound on his heart had finally scabbed over so that it didn't hurt too much to be next to him but not to be able to touch or to ease that permanent frown between his eyebrows.   
When he had children of his own to fuss over and care for while Will would still be as alone as he'll ever be...

He'd tell him and they'd have a laugh over how his first crush ended before anything could begin.  
 _Maybe_ it was _better_ that way.

Will had to convince himself that it _was_.

But for now he needed to cool his head somewhere without distractions. Especially without handsome Italian distractions.

Lou Ellen began to speak again, interrupting his cascading flurry of thoughts.

"There are plenty of fish in the sea, you know? Doesn't have to be that particular one. No matter how delicio-"

"No."

"What no? No, you don't wanna turn back or no, you want to lose your virginity to dark and handsome?"

" _Ellen_...!"

"What? It's not like he can hear us. And you know you want to."

She smirked easily while turning her eyes back to the street. Somehow she always knew the right thing to say. Not too prying, but firm nevertheless.

The lights were changing and Will felt the passing red of the traffic light gradually bleeding onto his own heating face and neck.  
Holding both hands up to cover as much embarrassment as he could, the blons questioned his choice in friends once more.

Not that it was the first time he did that, but somehow he always came running right back for them.  
Maybe something was very wrong with him after all.

At least they'd all be insane together.   
The idea sounded nicer in his head than it probably should.

A chuckle escaped Will's cracked lips and the tense muscles constricting his chest and locking his jaw began to loosen. The painful tension subsided and he fell back against the seat.

"Just-, focus on the street and drive. _Please_."

An unidentifiable expression flitted over Lou Ellen's features. For a second it shrouded part of her face in darkness like a passing street lamp would on a moonless night. However, in the next blink of an eye it was gone without a trace, well before it registered fully in his mind, so Will could figure out what it meant.

" _Alright_ loverboy, don't pee your panties."

" _Ellen_!"

He liked the playful back and forth between them. It wasn't perfect and Lou Ellen wasn't always strictly appropriate but somehow Will still wouldn't have it any other way.

Will felt certain that he was in for what would turn out to be a very, very long day before he could get back to his warm blanket cave and relative safety again but he wasn't complaining. Not _yet_ , anyway.

Now that he knew for sure, maybe he could actually get some work done rather than moping around listlessly, to the extent that even his most frivolous friend got concerned. Lou Ellen wasn't usually the mature, caring one.

"Hey!"

Apparently he needed to get his brain to mouth filter checked out. Or to get his feet surgically removed from his mouth.

Another sigh left him feeling a bit empty but strangely light at the same time.

Maybe it was time to finally give up on his one-sided feelings.  
Although there would always be a scrawny boy-shaped piece missing from his heart, he had given it away willingly and it would remain a nostalgic pain underneath the scarring.

Sure, there were other fish in the sea but that didn't mean that any of those would want to be near him right now.

He wasn't sure if he even wanted anyone else to be near him.  
Will was too far gone by this point.

But he had to give up and see Nico off with a smile. That much he owed to Nico and himself. He-

He was rudely awakened from his reverie by a hard flick on his forehead.  
Either Lou Ellen had suddenly improved on her driving or he had blanked out for whatever stretch was left of their drive.

And because the sky wasn't being consumed by flames yet that left only...

Will frowned and his eyes fell on his disheveled reflection in the windshield.  
He'd probably just gotten a mild concussion earlier.   
Or maybe Lou Ellen's bad driving had finally sent them into orbit.

Dismissing the peculiar car ride Will quickly clambered out the wreck of a car Lou Ellen still called hers and stretched out his long limbs. A satisfying pop resounded in his lower neck.

It felt oddly freeing to step on firm ground again. He resisted the urge to fall to his knees and kiss the earth.  
Will was neither drunk nor concussed enough to do that.

He stretched out his arms behind him and yawned.

When was the last time he'd slept more than a few hours at a time?  
He was sure it wasn't too long ago.  
If he ever tried sleeping properly, he'd just dream of dark chocolate eyes gazing at him from under lowered lashes...-

At this point he didn't even need to sleep for his mind to cook up some twisted image of his unhealthy infatuation.  
Even he himself thought that the rate at which his guilty database was expanding was slightly concerning.

He hadn't ever gotten any sign of reciprocation - _heck_ , the boy had yet to talk to him for more than a handful muttered greetings and hushed good-byes - and now that he knew why, shouldn't his brain get the message and stop trying so hard?

The hormones-excuse shouldn't work anymore, _right_?

He was a _lot_ of things but Will Solace wasn't going to be a homebreaker.  
As long as Nico was happy, he'd be too.

Will would make _sure_ of it.

A ray of multi-coloured light caught in his lashes for a second and he lost his balance, feet desperately searching for purchase on the uneven ground.  
Just when he was sure to be nursing a bleeding cheek in the next minutes a hand caught his flailing arm and pulled him back to his staggering feet.

" _Woah_ , easy there, tiger."

"Oh, Ellen...! Th-thanks, I dunno what just...-"

A sharp pain shot through his skull and the sun felt almost too bright for a heartbeat.  
Will raised a hand to hold his head, the pulsating pain not lessening.

"Do you, do you need to sit down? What do you want me to do? Do you need water? _God_ , I didn't sign up for this...-"

"I-I'm fine Ellen, it's just-. I'll be fine in a bit, just let me-"

Will felt blindly for the rough pavement and gingerly lowered himself to the ground.  
After a while the pain passed and his sight slowly returned to its former colour. He groaned and opened his eyes.

"I'm okay now, let's- let's go inside."

"Are you _sure_? I could drive you to a hospital if you don't feel well enough."

Will's stomach lurched instinctively at the thought and an uneasy feeling settled deep in his gut.

"I'm okay, it's just motion sickness and stress I guess. Let's go. I'll get us ice cream."

 

~*~

 

That was about fifteen minutes ago.

After Will had payed for their cones, they'd decided to wander around the mall a bit more.   
Lou Ellen insisted that some stress shopping was the best cure for a maiden's broken heart and Will couldn't find it in him to dent his friend some fun. Just because he felt like moping didn't mean he had to drag the brunette into it.

"Hey, wanna try mine?"

Without being given an answer a cloud of half molten green ice cream was shoved into his face. Lou Ellen leant closer.

"I think that's loverboy with company over there. _Don't look_."

Of course he'd look. What did Lou Ellen think he was? A mentally strong person?

Nico was crowding his "company", as Lou Ellen had put it, against a shop. She appeared to be struggling agajnst him, knocking against a few pieces of decoration placed around the store entrance.

The next few seconds happened too fast for Will to clearly remember.  
He recalled letting go of Lou Ellen's hand to rush over to the quarreling couple. Just as he had managed to get between them with a hovering, now slightly uncertain hand, Nico turned around. An odd expression passed over vibrant green eyes and something pooled hotly in his gut.

However, before Will could utter a single world something dark passed his line of sight and crashed into Nico's head.

Which explained why he was currently on the ground with one unwanted Italian distraction pressing hotly against his body, effectively pinning him to the ground.  
A smell of citrus body wash and Nico's oddly sun-kissed scent wafted into his nose. It was a struggle not to lose consciousness right there and then.

 _Surely_ he won't go to hell for holding Nico DiAngelo before giving him up once and for all. Just until the mall paramedics arrived.

But even if he _would_...

It was worth it every. Agonizing. Second.

And that's how Will Solace, over-all smooth person extraordinaire, ended up with an armful of unconscious, warm, pliable and just extremely _huggable_ Nico DiAngelo.

Now, if he could just make up his mind on if it was a good thing...

 _Self-destructive_? Who, _he_?

 


End file.
